July 17 (Bloomberg) -- Serbia’s current-account deficit
widened in the first five months as the imbalance in goods and
services trade expanded and remittances from abroad contracted.

The shortfall in the current account, a measure of money
flowing in and out of a country, grew 32.5 percent and reached
1.6 billion euros ($2 billion), Belgrade-based Narodna Banka
Srbije said on its website today. Remittances, an important
source of deficit financing, shrank 12.2 percent to 771.2
million euros.

Serbia’s monthly current-account gap in May equaled 9.1
percent of gross domestic product, according to the central
bank. Serbia has pledged to keep its current-account deficit at
about 8 percent of GDP in 2012. The first-quarter gap came to
16.8 percent of GDP.

Banks transferred 179 million euros in cash and deposits
abroad in May, pushing the five-month total to 555.6 million
euros.

The central bank’s balance of payments report also showed
negative direct investment for a fifth consecutive month, with a
cumulative outflow of 189.3 million euros. A total of 142.3
million euros was invested in the period, down from 700.2
million euros a year earlier.